Converted van as full-time home for nomadic Canadian couple
Mat and Danielle spent their first date bonding over Lloyd Kahn’s book
“Home Work” and discussing their ideas for simplifying their lives.
They became a couple, but “somewhere along the way, we ended up doing the
exact opposite of what we wanted,” explains Danielle on their blog.
“Instead of simplifying, we bought a house and spent months hauling
furniture, paint and knick knacks into it to surround ourselves with stuff
that we liked. Our bills went up so we got better jobs, started working
more, and eventually all we did was work during the day and watch Netflix
every night because we were too Exhausted to do anything else.”
“Mat was the first to suggest making a change because he found our
lifestyle stressful, but I resisted at first. I was really caught up in
the idea of owning my own place, maybe starting a family one day and
planning for an amazing retirement. I was also excited that I had a new
full time job with benefits and that we were financially stable.
Eventually I realized that all I was doing was working and I didn’t
even like my job anymore. We decided that we should do something crazy:
sell our house, quit our jobs and travel the world.”
Today, Mat and Danielle are living full-time in a converted van. Their back
seat folds down into a bed. Their kitchen is a cooler plus camping stove.
Their bathroom includes a solar camping shower and a plastic bottle toilet
(with funnel).
They’ve eliminated a mortgage, but their are still costs, what Mat calls
“like renting a really cheap apartment in a city”. Instead of paying
down a house, Mat and Danielle have decided to focus on working less and
experiencing more, both by exploring the world and their artistic
interests: for Mat, it’s music and art and for Danielle it’s writing.
Mat and Danielle on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/explorealternatives
Their blog: http://www.exploringalternatives.ca/
Mat’s art: http://www.matdube.com/
Original story:
http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/converted-van-as-full-time-home-for-no
madic-canadian-couple/